My Thoughts: Truly Devious by Maureen Johnson

Truly Devious
(Truly Devious #1)
by Maureen Johnson
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Publication Date: January 16th 2018
Publisher: Katherine Tegen Books
Pages: 432
ISBN: 9780062338051
Genre: Young Adult | Mystery | Thriller
Source: Edelweiss Review Copy

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New York Times bestselling author Maureen Johnson weaves a delicate tale of murder and mystery in the first book of a striking new series, perfect for fans of Agatha Christie and E. Lockhart.

Ellingham Academy is a famous private school in Vermont for the brightest thinkers, inventors, and artists. It was founded by Albert Ellingham, an early twentieth century tycoon, who wanted to make a wonderful place full of riddles, twisting pathways, and gardens. “A place,” he said, “where learning is a game.”

Shortly after the school opened, his wife and daughter were kidnapped. The only real clue was a mocking riddle listing methods of murder, signed with the frightening pseudonym “Truly, Devious.” It became one of the great unsolved crimes of American history.

True-crime aficionado Stevie Bell is set to begin her first year at Ellingham Academy, and she has an ambitious plan: She will solve this cold case. That is, she will solve the case when she gets a grip on her demanding new school life and her housemates: the inventor, the novelist, the actor, the artist, and the jokester. But something strange is happening. Truly Devious makes a surprise return, and death revisits Ellingham Academy. The past has crawled out of its grave. Someone has gotten away with murder.

The two interwoven mysteries of this first book in the Truly Devious series dovetail brilliantly, and Stevie Bell will continue her relentless quest for the murderers in books two and three.(Goodreads)

My Thoughts...
I’ve had my eye on Truly Devious by Maureen Johnson for a while now, and I was super curious to finally get started on it. I’ve read a few of Maureen’s books in the past, but it’s been a while since I read those, and I was pretty excited to read something new from her. (Yes, I’ve had the opportunity to read something new by her before now, as I own quite a few of her other books that I haven’t read yet, but I digress). I finally found this book at the top my TBR, and I’m glad that I had a chance to read it. It was an interesting book!

Stevie Bell is obsessed with true-crime, and wants nothing more than to work for the FBI when she’s older. When given the opportunity to attend school at the mysterious Ellingham Academy, Stevie decides that her main goal is to solve the cold-case murder that happened there way back when the school first opened. But when a murder happens again, it’s up to Stevie to figure out exactly what’s going on, and how a similar crime from the past could be happening again in the present.

I thought Stevie was an interesting main character. I love how interested she was in true-crime, and even though that’s something I am not at all into, I still found myself relating to her in many ways. I liked how quick her mind works, and I’m super curious to see how she’s going to figure things out over the course of the next two books in the series.

I also really enjoyed the mysterious storyline for the book, and how it kept me guessing. I also thought that the back-story of what happened at the school in the past was interesting as well, and super curious to see how all of these things will tie together throughout the rest of the series. I read this book fairly quickly, so if you’re looking for a fun, mysterious read, this may be the book for you.

Overall; I thought Truly Devious was really quick, mysterious read, and I’m really curious to see what’s going to happen in the next book. I also need to try to read more of Maureen’s books that I haven’t yet read, starting with the Shades of London series, which I keep meaning to pick up but haven’t yet. (I must do that soon!) If you’re a fan of murder mysteries, do check out Truly Devious!